Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hydrogen production catalyst, a method for producing hydrogen and a hydrogen production apparatus using the hydrogen production catalyst.
Related Background Art
Conventionally, a method (a method utilizing a two-step thermochemical water splitting reaction involving oxidation and reduction reactions of cerium oxide) has been studied in which hydrogen is generated by using a composite metal oxide containing cerium oxide as a hydrogen production catalyst, and performing a step of reducing the composite metal oxide to thereby release oxygen, and a step of splitting water by bringing water into contact with the reduced composite metal oxide to thereby oxidize the composite metal oxide and generate hydrogen.
The following are examples of hydrogen production catalysts used in this method. Specifically, a paper of Kaneko et al. (Non-Patent Literature 1: Kaneko et al., “Reactive ceramics of CeO2-MOx (M=Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu) for H2 generation by two-step water splitting using concentrated solar thermal energy”, Energy, 2007, vol. 32, P. 656 to P. 663) discloses the use of a composite metal oxide of CeO2 with a metal oxide represented by the formula: MOx (M=Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu). Moreover, a paper of Qing-Long Meng et al. (Non-Patent Literature 2: Qing-Long Meng et al., “Reactivity of CeO2-based ceramics for solar hydrogen production via a two-step water-splitting cycle with concentrated solar energy”, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 2011, vol. 36, P. 13435 to P. 13441) discloses the use of a composite metal oxide represented by the formula Ce0.9M0.1O2-δ (M=Mg, Ca, Sr, Sc, Y, Dy, Zr, Hf) as a hydrogen production catalyst. Furthermore, a paper of M. S. Hegde (Non-Patent Literature 3: M. S. Hegde, “Ce0.67Cr0.33O2.11: A New Low-Temperature O2 Evolution Material and H2 Generation Catalyst by Thermochemical Splitting of Water”, Chem. Mater, 2010, vol. 22, P. 762 to P. 768) discloses the use of a composite metal oxide represented by the formula: Ce0.67Cr0.33O2.11 as a hydrogen production catalyst.